To:     LWVO
From:   Joan Platz
Education Update for January 30, 2006

1)  126th General Assembly:  The Ohio House and Senate will hold
sessions and committee meetings this week.

The House approved by a vote of 93 to 4 Am. HB 276 (Stewart), which
requires boards of education to adopt policies regarding bullying and
harassment of students.  The bill was amended on the House floor.
The Ohio House also approved HB455 (Kilbane), which allows employees
of a city director of law, who is not a legal counsel for the
district, to serve on a board of education.  The House also
informally approved HB254 (Collier), regarding the number of
instructional hours required for schools to operate.  A formal vote
is scheduled on the bill this week.

*HB234 (Wolpert) - election reform - went into effect on January 27,
2006.  HB 234 permits a board of election to establish a program that
would allow certain high school seniors to serve as precinct officers
on the day of an election, and makes changes in absentee voting
procedures.

*Governor Taft signed into law last week HB107 (Setzer), which
requires the State Board of Education to adopt standards to require
teacher preparation programs to be aligned with the state academic
content standards and with the value-added component developed by the
Department of Education.

2)  Governor's State of the State:  Governor Bob Taft presented to a
joint session of the Ohio House and Senate the annual "State of the
State Address" on January 25, 2006 entitled  "Raising the Bar:
Nurturing Talent for Success in the Knowledge Economy."  This was
Governor Taft's eighth and final address before the Ohio General
Assembly, and he took this opportunity to thank members of the Ohio
General Assembly for working with his administration to reform Ohio's
tax structure and for the bipartisan support of the Jobs for Ohio
Bond Issue, which was approved by voters in November 2005.

Governor Taft then urged lawmakers to approve legislation to
revitalize Ohio's automotive industry; protect the waters of the
Great Lakes from diversion projects; extend the school breakfast and
lunch programs to serve an additional 120,000 children; strengthen
Ohio's system of adoption and foster care; and address predatory
lending practices.  He also congratulated the General Assembly for
approving one of the slowest-growth rate biennial budgets in years
(HB66 - Calvert) without "muddling the Constitution with new acronyms
and gimmicks".

The Governor also proposed a new education initiative to better
prepare students for higher education and the workplace by requiring
students to complete a more rigorous curriculum in order to graduate.
Beginning with the class of 2011, students would need to complete a
core curriculum called "The Ohio Core", which includes four years of
math, including Algebra II; three years of science, including
biology, chemistry and physics; four years of English; three years of
social studies; and at least two years of a foreign language.
Courses in the arts and technology were not mentioned, although most
colleges and universities require one credit of the arts in their
admission standards.

Students would also be required to take a college and work-ready
assessment in their junior year.  The proposal also recommends that
completion of the core be a prerequisite for students applying to
Ohio's state-funded, four year colleges and universities.   All
remedial education courses would be moved to two year campuses, and
an indicator showing how well high schools in Ohio were preparing
students for college and work would be added to the Local Report
Card.  The Governor stated that an education reform bill would be
introduced soon in the General Assembly to enact this recommendation.

Governor Taft's proposal for education and State of the State Address
are on the Governor's web site at
http://www.governor.ohio.gov/releases/012506sos.htm.

3) Ohio Legislative Black Caucus Report:  The Ohio Legislative Black
Caucus, State Representative Barbara Sykes President, presented on
January 24, 2006 "The State of Black Ohio: Strengths, Trends and
Challenges", which was prepared by the Kirwan Institute for the Study
of Race and Ethnicity, john powell Executive Director, at The Ohio
State University.  The presentation included information about the
status of African Americans in Ohio in the areas of jobs and economy,
the minimum wage, education, healthcare, housing, criminal justice,
and voting.  According to the report, vast disparities exist in
education, wages, healthcare, and housing, but some trends have been
positive.  The following are highlights from the power point
presentation, which is available at
http://www.olbc1967.org/ht/display/ReleaseDetails/id/730091.

Jobs and Economic Development:  There has been a steady increase in
the number of businesses in Ohio owned by African Americans, but
Ohio's slow economy poses a problem for future  growth.  Ohio lost
more than 170,000 manufacturing jobs (18 percent of its industrial
base) since January 2001, and in 2004 13.2 percent of African
Americans were unemployed compared to 5.2 percent of Caucasians.

Minimum Wage:  Ohio is one of two states that has set its minimum
wage of $4.25 per hour below the federal minimum wage rate of $5.15
per hour.  At this level, a full-time employee earns only $10,712 a
year.  92,000 Ohio workers in Ohio (1.9 percent) earn less than the
federal minimum wage.  The Ohio Legislative Black Caucus is working
to place on the November 2006 ballot an issue that would raise Ohio's
minimum wage to $6.85 an hour.

Education:  The achievement gap between Caucasian students and
African American students is closing and more African American
students are attending college, but work must continue to ensure that
all students pass state graduation tests and graduate.  The current
graduation rate of African-American students in Ohio is 66 percent
and 89 percent for Caucasian students.  To close the achievement gap
Ohio must fully fund intervention programs, provide qualified
teachers, and support teacher education programs that build an
understanding of cultural competency.

The presentation also noted an alarming trend regarding the
segregation of Ohio's schools.  Rates of school segregation increased
in Ohio's major metropolitan areas and there is a high number of
African American students attending high poverty schools

Health Care:  There has been a decrease in infant mortality rates due
to an increase in access to early prenatal care, but access to
insurance and health care in neighborhoods continues to lag, and
mortality rates for African Americans are 27 percent higher than
mortality rates for Caucasians.

Prisons and Community Reentry:  African Americans make up 48.13
percent (11,838) of the total prison population (44,974) and 47
percent of Ohio's juvenile detainees in 2004.  Few services and
supports are available for those reentering their communities.

Voting Rights:  70.3 percent of African Americans in Ohio are
registered to vote, and 65.5 percent voted in the 2004 election. 
However, voters experienced some irregularities in this last
election, and, according to some investigations, African American
precincts were more likely to have votes not counted.

4) Study on Income Levels Reveals Inequities: The Center on Budget
and Policy Priorities and the Economic Policy Institute released on
January 26, 2006 a study called "Pulling Apart:  A State by State
Analysis of Income Trends", coauthored by Elizabeth McNichol and
Jared Bernstein.  According to the study, "The incomes of the
country's richest families have climbed substantially over the past
two decades, while middle-and lower-income families have seen only
modest increases.  The trend is in marked contrast to the broadly
shared increases in prosperity between World War II and the 1970s."
The income trend is due in part to the erosion of wages for 70
percent of workers who have less than a college education.  Fewer
manufacturing jobs, globalization, the minimum wage, and the
weakening of unions have contributed to this trend.

The inequity in income levels makes it more difficult for lower
income families to pull themselves out of poverty, according to Jared
Bernstein, Senior Economist with the Economic Policy Institute and
coauthor of the study.  The gap between "...the growth of the typical
family's income and productivity is our most pressing economic
problem."

The coauthors recommend that states increase the state minimum wage,
strengthen supports for low income families, reform the unemployment
insurance system, and pursue tax policies that help lower income
residents to offset the trend.

The ten states with the greatest inequity between top and bottom
income levels are New York, Texas, Tennessee, Arizona, Florida,
California, Louisiana, Kentucky, New Jersey, and North Carolina.  In
Ohio in 2000, the richest 20 percent of families had average incomes
6.4 times as large as the poorest 20 percent of families, which is an
increase from 4.9 times as large in the 1980s.  The growth in income
inequity in Ohio was the 28th largest in the nation.  In dollar
terms, the average income of the top quintile of income levels in
Ohio between 1980 and 2000 increased by $42,884 ($74,394 to
$117,277), while the average income of the bottom quintile increased
by $3,186 ($15,030 to $18,216). The full report is available at
http://www.cbpp.org/

5)  This Week at the Statehouse:

*The House Finance and Appropriations Committee, chaired by
Representative Calvert (466-8140), will meet on Tuesday, January 31,
2006 at 1:00 PM in room 313.  The committee will hear testimony on
HB438 (Wolpert) - cost of doing business calculation and HB473
(Trakas) - merit pay and teacher qualifications.

*The House Education Committee, chaired by Representative Setzer
(644-8051), will meet on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 at 3:30 PM in room
018.  The committee will hear testimony HB 422 (Hughes) - safety
plans for schools; HB 431 (Peterson) - vouchers for students in
special education; and HB411 (Wolpert) - changes in Ohio's
performance rating system for schools.

*The Senate Education Committee, chaired by Senator Padgett
(466-8076), will meet on Tuesday, January 24, 2006 at 4:00 PM in the
north hearing room.  The committee will hear testimony on HB 455
(Kilbane) - members of board of education; SB164 (Schuring) - use of
epinephrine by students in school; HB115 (Setzer) -  establish the
Educational Regional Service System; HB 65 (Coughlin) - vouchers for
special education students; HB184 (Faber) - display donated mottoes
in schools; and HB 276 (Stewart) - school policies regarding bullying
and harassment.

*The House Economic Development and Environment Committee, chaired by
Representative Collier, will meet on Wednesday, February 1, 2006 at
3:00 PM in room 017.  The committee will hear testimony on HB404
(Wolpert) - create urban homestead zones.

*The Higher Education Funding Council, Shawn Webster chair, will meet
on Thursday, February 2, 2006 at 1:00 PM on the 12th floor of the
Riffe Center.

6)  New Study on Student Achievement in Private vs. Public Schools:
The National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education,
Teachers College, Columbia University, released in January 2006 a
study called "Charter, Private, Public Schools and Academic
Achievement:  New Evidence from NAEP Mathematics Data", by
Christopher Lubienski, University of Illinois and Sarah Theule
Lubienski, University of Illinois.  The study found that after
accounting for certain student demographic characteristics, students
in public schools perform "remarkably well, often outscoring private
and charter schools" on the National Assessment of Progress Exam
(NAEP) in mathematics.

The national debate over how to improve student achievement has led
to the charter school and voucher movements, which provide parents
with resources to opt out of public schools in favor of privately
operated charter schools or private schools.  A study of the 2003
data of NAEP results in mathematics challenges the assumptions about
private school superiority, and shows that students in public schools
outperform most private schools, when student characteristics, such
as socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, gender, disability, limited
English proficiency, and school location, are considered.  According
to the Executive Summary:

"To summarize the most important findings once demographic and
location differences were controlled:
* Public schools significantly out-scored Catholic schools (by over 7
points in 4th grade, and almost 4 points in 8th grade).
* Of all private school types studied, Lutheran schools performed the
best. 4th grade scores in Lutheran schools were roughly 4 points
lower than in comparable public schools, but were (a statistically
insignificant) 1 point higher at the 8th grade.
* The fastest growing segment of the private school sector,
conservative Christian schools, were also the lowest performing,
trailing public schools by more than 10 points at grades 4 and 8.
* Charter schools scored a significant 4.4 points lower than
non-charter public schools in 4th grade, but scored (a statistically
insignificant) 2.4 points higher in 8th grade."

According to the Executive Summary,

"These notable findings regarding the remarkable performance of
public schools are significant, not just statistically, but also in
terms of their policy implications. The presumed panacea of
private-style organizational models - the private-school advantage -
is not supported by this comprehensive dataset on mathematics
achievement. These data suggest significant reasons to be suspicious
of claims of general failure in the public schools, and raise
substantial questions regarding a basic premise of the current
generation of school reforms based on mechanisms such as choice and
competition drawn from the private sector. Furthermore, assumptions
that academic quality will be driven by parental choice need to be
re-examined in view of the fact that conservative Christian schools,
the fastest growing segment of the private school market, were also
the lowest performing."

The researchers are now examining the 2003 data to determine the
relationship between school size and academic achievement; the
relationship between teacher certification and student achievement;
and the interactions among school sector, school climate, and
achievement.

The report is available at http://www.ncspe.org/publications_files/OP111.pdf

7)  Bills Introduced

HB486 (Faber) - School Discipline:  Confers immunity from civil
liability upon school districts, community schools, nonpublic
schools, and school employees for an alleged injury to a student
caused by school discipline, provided that such discipline does not
result in student endangerment.